NFC sharing is possible between Android and Windows Phone 8

Did you know that you can use NFC to send things like contacts and web page URLs between an Android device and a Windows Phone 8 device? Well you can! In tests between a HTC Windows Phone 8X and a Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean it has been shown that URLs and contacts can be sent between the devices, in both directions. However, using NFC on Android is a little simpler and requires less taps than on Windows Phone 8.

Near field communication (NFC), which needs a distance of at least 4cm to initiate a connection, has been supported in Android for a while, but it is a new feature on Windows Phone 8. The new mobile OS from Microsoft has a feature called “Tap + Send” which is generally available under the “More …” -> Share menu.

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There is a limit however on what can be sent between platforms. Using two devices with the same OS it is possible to share photos and videos between phones. But across the Windows – Android divide you get an error saying that large file transfers aren’t supported.

Although this is all very good news for consumers and opens up some interesting possibilities for NFC use across all smartphone devices (when Apple finally decides to support it), it is sad that the standards aren’t sufficiently well defined that the transfer of photos or other types of files isn’t supported.

Check out the video below and then please leave a comment letting me know what you think!

Yes, it will work with any Android device running Jelly Bean and any Windows Phones running WP8.

MasterMuffin

Why did you test it with that htc’s COPY of nokia lumia?

Adam Eldin

HTC didn’t copy, Microsoft told Samsung and HTC and Nokia that their flagship windows phones have to be colorful. Outside of the color and the material, the build is completely different. If you drop the Nokia then it will break the floor, the same cannot be said for the HTC.

MasterMuffin

So what happened with Samsung ativ s? Seriously, if you look at the front of these devices, withou the logos you can’t tell the difference easily!